Growing Up Tenten
by Soul Raider 116
Summary: No one was sure where she came from when they found her after the Kyuubi attacked that fateful day. She was a girl with no past, and presumably no future. Who would have guessed she'd grow up to be a weapons' mistress? (Eventual NejiTen, hints of the crack pairing GaiAnko are also possible)
1. Prologue: Mystery Child

**Summary:** No one was sure where she came from when they found her after the Kyuubi attacked that fateful day. She was a girl with no past, and presumably no future. Who would have guessed she'd grow up to be a weapons' mistress?

**A/N: **Poor Tenten, she gets no character development or back story. I feel bad for her. I've been wanting to write a NejiTen story for a long time, something along the lines of a girl next door theme. Well, while I was thinking, once again, about how to go about such a thing, my train of thought wandered off track taking what should have been a simple one shot, and turning it into something more. I totally shouldn't be doing this either. I have too many projects in the works already. But I need to get at least part of it typed out, or I'll lose all of it by morning. Anyway, my girl next door starting point got sidetracked and turned into a "where the heck did Tenten come from, and why doesn't she have a last name?" story. So, this is what my mind thought up in response.

**Mandatory Disclaimer:** Naruto is not mine. Tenten isn't either. But since the person who owns her wasn't responsible enough to give the poor thing a back story, I'll give her one instead.

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><p><strong>Prologue: Mystery Child<strong>

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><p>It was chaos. Buildings lay crumbled in the streets, corpses of ninja and civilians alike scattered amidst the rubble. The civilian casualties had thankfully been kept to a minimum thanks to a quick evacuation effort, and the fact that Kanoha's population was mostly ninja to begin with, but it was still messy. The ramen stand owner and his young daughter were frantically trying to dig through the remains of their shop in search of the girl's mother, and were soon joined by a silver haired teenager whose forehead protector dipped low over one eye while a mask covered his features beneath his eyes.<p>

With the actual danger sealed away inside the late Hokage's infant son, those who had been fighting were free to help. There was no time to grieve those who had been lost, not yet. They had to help those who had survived, to tend to the injured, and find the lost. As such, the retired Sandaimo stepped forth to once again take charge in his successor's place. The remaining ninja were split into teams. The strongest were given the task of clearing away the rubble left in Kyuubi's wake. The swiftest were charged with gathering civilian's who had fled the village during the attack and may have gotten lost. And any med nin were immediately set to the task of treating injured survivors. A few of the younger ninja were given the task of watching the children in the village so that their parents could help with the recovery.

Maito Gai was one of the strongest ninja in the village, if he was to be believed. But, he was also young, only a teenager. Thus, he had been assigned to the search teams. As he began to wander the remains of the village toward the gate, he sent a sharp look toward the remains of the ramen stand, where his eternal rival seemed to have escaped search duty and was attempting to comfort the owner's tearful young daughter. A call from the leader of the squad Gai had been sent to search with pulled his attention back to the task at hand.

They were to scour the still standing portions of the village as well as the forest beyond. The youthful teen had been sent into an alley between two rows of apartments to look for any signs of life, though having hidden within Kanoha would have been rather foolish, but civilian's didn't always think clearly in moments of panic. The alley seemed perfectly clear to him, anyway, not a sign of life until he turned to walk away and heard a soft whimper. Dark eyes narrowed slightly as he approached the source of the sound. A stand of trash cans.

Whatever was making the noise was clearly trying to suppress it, the next time the whimper reached Gai's ears, it was softer than before, despite his being closer to the source. Carefully, he peeked behind the garbage cans, blinking in surprise at what he found. There was a little girl huddled and shivering in cold and fear as she stared at him with wide brown eyes. The child couldn't have been more than two or three, with soft brown hair barely long enough to be pulled into the twin pigtails it displayed. On her diminutive figure she wore a blue and red Chinese style top, couple with puffy red shorts.

Upon spotting the ninja the toddler recoiled, scooting further back against the wall, murmuring something he didn't quite understand. It almost sounded like a foreign language, but he chalked it up to baby talk. Regardless, it was clear that the attack had left the child terrified. Once more the teenager's gaze swept the alley. There was no sign of anyone else. No adults that could be the girl's parents, no corpses that might have once been them. Looking back at her, the normally boisterous man seemed to instinctively know that shouting would only frighten her further. Slowly, he extended his hand, as one might do when meeting a puppy for the first time.

Deep brown eyes shifted to glance warily at the hand as Gai spoke in words the child couldn't comprehend. Still, she made no move toward him. Not until he smiled. It was the smile that made her trust him, the warmth of his gleaming smile caused her to reach a pudgy little hand out to grasp his.

"There you go, little flower of youth!" He chimed brightly as he swept her into his arms, bouncing her lightly, causing her to give a squeal that sounded like a mix between excitement and nervousness, "Let's go find the others, and see what to do with you!"

Emerging from the alley way, Gai carried the small girl toward the place where he was to meet his squad after sweeping his designated alley before moving on to his next assigned location. As he came into view a certain teenage girl with a rough edge and a skimpy outfit blinked once, then twice, then burst out laughing.

"Wow, Gai! I never saw you as the daddy type!" She called to him in the distance as soon as she had been able to discern it was a child in his arms. The teenage ninja girl doubled over in laughter as the male in question sent her a scowl that was regrettably unyouthful.

"I found her in the alley I was searching, Anko," Gai explained, though of course the teasing girl already knew that, "But there was no sign of who might have left her there."

An older female ninja stepped forward, a medical liaison for their squad, and took the child carefully from Gai's arms, "Well, I'll take care of her now. We'll take her to the med team to make sure she's uninjured. And if no one claims her as their own, she will be taken to the orphanage until she is old enough to live on her own."

As the liaison walked briskly away with the child in her grasp, Gai watched them fade into the disarray of Kanoha. He wasn't sure why, but he had a feeling he hadn't seen the last of that little girl.


	2. Chapter 1: Hyuuga

**A/N:** I totally just realized that I misspelled Konoha everytime I used it in the first chapter. Right, now we time skip ahead a bit. Umm...not sure how old to say Tenten is in this chap...I don't remember ever hearing how old the students are when they start training at the Academy, and I'm finding sources that say things ranging from 5 to 7. Not sure. Anyway, Neji and Lee would be about half way through their first year at the Academy, whereas Tenten actually starts going later than them, despite being close in age. You'll see why as you read on. Since there's going to be more dialogue from this point on, I will be using some Japanese phrasing, since I like doing that for some reason. The story is still in primarily English, of course, and any Japanese will be written in Romanji. I think the phrases I'm using are pretty commonly known among most fans of anime/manga, but if for some reason you don't know what it means, feel free to ask in your review or whatever and I will clarify in a reply or in an A/N. I do want people to be able to read and understand what I'm writing, after all! Also, I am surprised so many people responded so quickly to this fic! I mean, I was writing it mostly to get it down for myself. But I already have 5 reviews, 3 favs and 7 follows. Thank you all! As a final note, though the chapter is called Hyuuga, that's only half the chapter. It just made a catchy chapter title, lol.

**Mandatory Disclaimer:** Naruto is not mine. Tenten isn't either. But since the person who owns her wasn't responsible enough to give the poor thing a back story, I'll give her one instead.

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Hyuuga<strong>

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><p>Tenten laughed softly as she played in the streets of Konoha with the other orphan children. Most of the village children were from ninja clans, and so had school at this time of day, even if it was almost time for classes to end. For the girl and her few non-ninja friends, that wasn't an issue. They had general academic type stuff to learn, of course, but it wasn't as intensive as ninja training so they were able to finish for the day much sooner.<p>

Still, as often as Tenten spent the day laughing and running the streets with her friends, she often wished to know what it was like in the halls of the Academy. It felt like she was missing out on something special; some bigger, grander purpose that the shinobi of Konoha fulfilled. She would hear the orphans that had been left behind by ninja parents talking when they finished a day of training. Chakra, kunai, jutsu, it all sounded absolutely fascinating!

She found herself staring as the Academy students filed out, now finished with lessons for the day, and scattered towards their homes. Some were picked up by elder siblings, or parents, some wandered on their own. Her gaze lingered on a particularly scowly boy as he made his way through the Academy's gates to meet a tall man who was waiting for him. On either side of the adult stood a young girl, and it was clear that the man and the boy had no particular like for each other. The student offered a bow to the adult and the girls who had arrived to pick him up, his long elegant hair shifting against his shoulders as he did so.

Tenten continued to watch, jumping slightly when the boy suddenly turned his scowl toward her upon straightening. Two things struck her immediately. First, from this far away, it almost looked like the boy's eyes were entirely white! There was no barrier between the whites and the irises. Secondly, his head was bandaged. Had he somehow gotten injured? Those eerie white eyes narrowed upon her and she immediately blushed and looked away, scolding herself for staring. She was just a civilian orphan. She had no business being so intrigued by ninja or their way of life.

"Tenten? Earth to Tenten!" Another of the non-ninja orphans, a boy, smirked as she finally snapped to attention and turned her focus back to the game, "Hyuuga got your tongue?"

"Huh?" Large brown eyes blinked in confusion at the strange question, her head tilting to the side, causing the ribbons that were tied around her hair buns to shift slightly.

The boy laughed loudly as he realized she genuinely didn't understand his earlier quip, "Hyuuga...as in the Hyuuga clan? One of the most prominent ninja families in Konoha? Even civies like us know who they are. You really are dumb, aren't you?"

"I am not!" The bun haired girl glared at her tormentor, "How am I supposed to know all the ninja families names? It's not like we're ninja ourselves, right?"

"History class maybe?" The boy rolled his eyes. Those who didn't study ninja arts, still had to study. Math, reading, writing, the basic skills needed to function in society. And of course, history. They learned about the great ninja wars, and the founding of the villages, a bit about the first clans to settle in Konoha, and of course the most recent tragedy of the Kyuubi attack.

"I..." Tenten couldn't keep from blushing in shame. She hadn't really paid close attention in any of her lessons, and everyone knew her grades weren't the best. It wasn't because she was stupid though! She just had other things on her mind. Like wondering what it would be like to feel the cool metal of a kunai in her grasp. She frowned as she gave up on arguing, conceding as she shoved the ball she had been holding into the boy's grip, "I guess I wasn't actually focused in class..."

With that, she took off, unconsciously setting off in the direction she had last noticed the Hyuuga family heading. She ran without thinking, just wanting to get away from her fair-weather friends. The tears that stung her eyes begged to be set free, but she wasn't about to let them fall. She only stopped when she reached the edge of the village, and a wall that seemed exceedingly tall to a girl of her stature. As she stared up at the barrier, she wondered what could be protected behind it.

As she pondered, she heard approaching voices from the other side of the wall. Her breath slowed, almost stilled, as though she would be caught doing something wrong just by standing there. Listening she could hear two voices, and adult male, and a young girl.

"Really, Hinata, I'm disappointed," The man's voice was sharp and scolding.

"H-hai, Otou-san..." The girl's voice trembled softly, timidly.

"You're set to enter the Academy soon, you should be showing more progress than this!" The man that Tenten now knew as the father of the girl, Hinata, sounded a bit too harsh, but then, the orphan had no real parent to compare him to.

"H-hai...Otou-san..." Hinata's voice was even more timid this time, filled with shame.

"How do you expect to take over as the head of the clan? You don't seem to show even rudimentary skills as a ninja." The man's tone was quieter, but not out of pity. His voice carried more disappointment than anything.

"G-gomen...O-otou-san...I...I'll t-try harder..." Hinata mumbled. Tenten felt like screaming at the unseen man! Couldn't he see that he wasn't going to help thing by talking to the girl like that? All he was doing was making her feel like she couldn't do anything!

Opening her mouth to shout just such an objection through the wall, the civilian girl was cut off by a dull voice from behind, "What are you doing?"

Snapping her mouth shut, the bun haired orphan jumped and spun in the air, landing with surprising grace for someone with no training. Staring with wide eyes she found herself face to face with the boy she had seen exiting the academy. From here she could see that his gaze wasn't so much colorless as it was very pale.

"What are you doing?" He repeated, narrowing his pallid sights in suspicion. She didn't seem like a ninja to him. After all, she was just a child, around his own age probably. And he was pretty sure she wasn't from outside the village. He vaguely remembered seeing her with the orphans that wandered the streets from time to time. In fact, she was the girl who he had seen watching Hiashi and the girls as they picked him up at the Academy earlier.

"I...I wasn't eavesdropping!" She defended, though no one had actually suggested she had been, "I just happened to find myself here, and I heard them talking, and boy is that guy mean!"

Lofting a brow, the Academy student listened to her push the words out on one breath, "Is that so?"

A fervent nod was given in reply as the civilian girl begged silently that whatever deity might exist would make him believe her! It wasn't like she had actually followed them or anything!

"You just happened to be here?" He regarded the girl curiously, cautiously, pale eyes narrowed in perpetual suspicion, "After watching them at the Academy earlier?"

Tenten's eyes widened again as she realized he recognized her from earlier. Her face heated and she dropped her gaze to the side, trying to hide her humiliation, "I...I wasn't...I mean...wait...them? I wasn't watching them!"

Now the boy's interest was truly piqued, "You weren't? Then why were you staring?"

"I..." Great, she thought, blushing deeper as she stared at the ground, hoping the dirt road beneath her would somehow spell out the answer, "I wasn't. It's not...wait a minute...how did you know I was here anyway?"

The long haired boy blinked at the abrupt change of subject. "I thought that would be obvious...back to the matter at hand..."

"It's not obvious!" Tenten snapped, feeling a little more bold and she put her hands on her hips, narrowing her own eyes, "You came from inside the wall, right? So, how did you know I was here?"

She was met with a look of confusion. The boy was trying to determine if this girl was an idiot, or a brilliant actress. Surely everyone in the village knew about the Byakugan, "This is the Hyuuga compound...you realize?"

"Well, duh! And you're a Hyuuga, I know that! But that doesn't-" She was silenced when he let out a derisive snort, "What?"

"Then you must know that I saw you." He shrugged dismissively, as though the answer was obvious.

"Saw me?" It was her turn to be confused. She blinked several times, her face screwing up in concentration as she tried to figure out what on earth he could be talking about, "You were behind the wall, right?"

The boy nodded, clearly getting exasperated, "Yes."

"But you saw me? And you think I believe that?" She was incredulous at how stupid he seemed to think she was.

"You're an idiot, aren't you?" He asked with a sigh, "Don't they teach you anything about the ninja clans in that orphanage?"

"What?" She practically shrieked the question in reply, her small hands balling into fists in agitation, "I am not an idiot! I just...don't always pay attention in class!"

"Neji?" A stern voice came from the gate in the wall, causing Tenten to freeze, and the boy to turn towards the speaker, "Who's out there with you?"

"No one special," He called toward the voice that obviously belonged to the one who had been berating the girl on the other side of the wall, the boy's face having fallen into a scowl, "I noticed her earlier, but she's no threat."

"You don't like him, huh?" The orphan observed as she detected the sudden shift in expression. He snapped around to glare at her when she spoke, and she could tell she'd hit close to home.

He turned his head to glare at the wall instead, "Maybe you aren't as stupid as I thought..."

"I have my moments." She shrugged with a small smile, glad to get something that was probably close to an apology from him, "So...Hyuuga Neji, is it? It's nice to meet you!"

Turning his pallid eyes back to the girl he gave her a once over, trying to decide if she was insane or just weird. There were plenty of weird people in the village after all, "You're...strange."

"I'll take that as a compliment, Neji-kun!" She grinned at him.

Neji had to give her points for guts. A lot of the civilians were intimidated by the Hyuuga's status as a powerful ninja family. But she came up, started an argument, and then began chatting as though they were old friends. It was definitely bold on her part, "Hn...take it as you will, Orphan."

At that, the girl cringed and pouted, narrowing her eyes at him, "I do have name you know."

"And I'm supposed to ask for it?" Neji lofted his brow as he replied, watching her grin in return.

"Tenten!" She offered a small bow as she introduced herself, it was only polite after all, "My name is Tenten, and it's a pleasure to meet you, Hyuuga Neji-kun!"

"Tenten...hmm..." Neji glanced her over once more, noticing that she didn't give a last name with that. Perhaps it was something she was ashamed to associate with? It didn't matter, he probably wouldn't be speaking to her again anyway, "Goodbye, then, Tenten."

The young girl gaped as the Academy student turned to walk away, not so much as waiting for a response from her! It was beyond rude, as far as she was concerned! He was a jerk! A big jerk! Puffing out her cheeks in agitation, she stooped and picked up a medium sized stone, launching it at the back of his head.

He could hear something coming, and reflexively activated his byakugan, but damn if it wasn't in his blind spot! So going on the sound, he tried to whirl away, but was not smooth enough, and the stone nailed him in the side of the head. Immediately the dazed ninja student crumpled to the ground. Tenten let out a squeak of shock at actually having hit him, and rushed to his side, dropping to her knees, the dust of the road gathering on her white Capri pants, not that she cared.

One of her hands lifted to cover her mouth, the other hovered over the spot where she had hit him, "Oh my gosh! I didn't think I would actually hit you! Are you okay?"

Wincing, Neji sat up slowly, lifting his own pale fingers to the side of his head. Luckily, his brow was already wrapped in bandages, so the small amount of blood that had begun to flow was mostly being absorbed. Still, when he withdrew his hand, the tips of his fingers were stained red, "You hit me..."

"Technically the rock hit you, and I really didn't think it would! Aren't shinobi supposed to be able to dodge things like that?" Now that she knew she hadn't killed him her tone turned slightly mocking and teasing.

The boy shot her a glare from the corner of his pale eyes, "You threw the rock, you hit me. And I'm a first year academy student! Gifted as I am, I'm still learning!"

"Gifted?" She scoffed, "Modest, aren't you? Well, Mr. Gifted, you just got nailed in the head by this civilian!"

"So you admit you hit me then?" He grumbled, heat creeping into his face as he grew agitated at her teasing, slowly climbing to his feet.

"By accident, but yes," Tenten conceded, nodding. She glanced skyward, noting the approaching twilight hour, and sighed. As much as she would like to keep talking to the student, she should get back to the orphanage soon, or they would begin to worry, "You should get inside and change the bandage. Whatever the original injury was might have reopened when the rock hit you."

"That was an accident?" He muttered grumpily, tentatively touching his still tender temple. At the mention of an original injury his face fell into a scowl again and he shot her a glare from the corner of his eye. On some level he knew that she hadn't meant to, but she had just further wounded his pride by reminding him of his status as a member of the branch family, "There isn't one."

Blinking, the bun haired girl watched him turn and storm toward the gate. Clearly she had said something wrong, but she wasn't sure what. And she didn't know what there wasn't one of. She wanted to ask, but he was already gone, so she called out, aware that he would hear her on the other side of the wall, "See you later, Neji-kun!"

As the girl on the other side of the tall wall bounded off, Neji stood glaring at her mild chakra signature as it faded down the path that should be beyond regular sight. There was no doubt the strange orphan was annoying, but if he tried to say she didn't have good aim he'd be lying. With a grudging grunt the Hyuuga boy muttered, "Tenten...good thing she's a civilian...fate will have us seldom meeting."

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><p>Tenten thought to herself as she sprinted towards the orphanage, the sun quickly setting over the western wall of the village. The civilian child's mind was racing with memories of the encounter she had just had. She could tell she annoyed Neji from his gruff attitude toward her, though it seemed he was easily irked to begin with. And honestly, the Hyuuga irritated her as well! Still, she would be lying if she said she wasn't also slightly intrigued by cold and distant boy. He had said many curious things, from being able to see her even though he was on the other side of a wall, to the fact that there wasn't one, though one of what she wasn't sure. His eyes were very interesting too. That pale, nearly white color that seemed to pull her in if she caught them. They seemed almost magical, but magic was the stuff of myth, and jutsu were real. Therefore, she supposed they had something to do with jutsu. She knew certain kinds passed through the bloodline after all.<p>

So deep in her thoughts was the young civilian girl as she finally bounded up the stairs to the orphanage that she nearly collided with the man standing in front of the door. Strong hands reached out to grab her by the shoulders gently, just in time to prevent such an accident, "While your youthful energy is admirable, you should pay attention to where you're going, hmm?"

Her brown eyes grew wide at the touch, and wider still as she heard the voice. Beaming, she turned her face up to greet the man clad in form fitting green, "Gai-nii-san!"

"Yosh!" Maito Gai released her shoulders and grinned as he gave her a thumbs up. He made a routine of visiting the orphanage when possible, at least once a month, to visit the child he had found hidden behind the trash cans in the alley after the Kyuubi attack. She'd had no one to take care of her, and he'd been just a teenager, so he had been unable to provide her with the proper care a toddler would need.

So, with a failed attempt to hide his reluctance, Gai had handed her over to the care of the orphanage. They had named the child Tenten, not bothering with a last name. When he had questioned the lack of surname, he was told that the name would only be changed once she was adopted anyhow, so there was really no point. It sounded reasonable enough, so he dropped it. Still, he made a point of visiting the child, not so much to make sure she was being taken care of as to make sure she was adjusting well. Eventually these occasional visits became more frequent, and soon he was stopping by the building monthly to see the girl who looked to him as a sort of surrogate elder brother.

"Where have you been, Gai-nii-san? Did you have an exciting mission? Will you tell me all about it?" Tenten ran the questions together, not giving him even a moment to answer as she dragged him into the orphanage and towards the room that served as a sitting area for the children.

Excitedly, the bun haired girl bounced onto a sofa, and Gai grinned as he took the seat next to her, "I have been on a mission, which was completed with youthful enthusiasm! Well, on my part anyway! My eternal rival is far less youthful, such a shame."

As the man shook his head in disappointment at his fellow shinobi, Tenten giggled, "Well, Kakashi-san just isn't as cool as you then!"

"Yosh!" Gai beamed at being called cool. He knew he had the awesome power of youth on his side, but to have it confirmed by another was always nice, "Still, one shouldn't underestimate my eternal rival!"

"What kind of mission was it?" The orphan girl leaned in looking around to make sure no one was listening, "Was it a covert operation?"

The green clad man laughed merrily, always glad to see his young friend so interested in the life of a shinobi. He had no doubt she would actually be skilled as one if given the chance. But no one knew where she came from and it was assumed she had no lineage of the ninja variety. Add to that the fact that she tended to daydream during her civilian studies, and those in charge of the Academy assumed she would not be a good candidate for a kunoichi. It was a shame, really, considering that ninja training was the very thing this girl spent her time day dreaming about.

"Oh yes, very covert." The shinobi murmured in reply, leaning in as though whispering a secret, "I can't tell you most of the details...but one task needing accomplished was to bring a souvenir from the village we were in to a certain young flower."

It didn't take long for Tenten to realize she was the flower, and her eyes brightened as Gai removed a medium sized cloth bag that had been tied to his forehead protector (which he wore at his waist.) Blinking, the orphan couldn't help but wonder how she'd missed noticing that before, but eagerly accepted the bag as he handed it over, unfastening it to look at it's contents. She let out a gasp as she pulled out the gift, then looked a little confused as she held up the item, "A panda?"

Indeed, Gai had given her a small stuffed panda. Tenten wasn't known for being especially girly, so receiving a stuffed animal confused her somewhat. In an attempt to clarify, the man poked one of her buns and spoke, "It reminded me a bit of you."

Still a bit perplexed, Tenten blinked, examining the bear a moment before realization dawned on her features. It was the ears! She laughed at her own silliness for not getting it right away. The panda's ears had reminded the shinobi of her buns! With a grin she embraced him, "Arigatou, Gai-nii-san!"

"You're welcome, Tenten," Gai beamed in return, "Now, where has my youthful flower been all afternoon, hmm? The children said you took off in the middle of a game!"

"Oh...uh…" The orphan shifted slightly in her seat, not sure what made her so uncomfortable all of a sudden. Normally, she felt she could talk to Gai about anything. But the teasing of the other children that had lead her to run, followed by the encounter with the annoying yet intriguing Hyuuga boy felt like an awkward subject, "Yes...I did."

Gai's perpetual youthful smile faltered some in concern, "And why would you do such a thing? You usually enjoy playing with your youthful friends!"

"I do!" Tenten quickly reassured him, "They're wonderful, really, but…"

The jounin waited a moment for her to continue. When she did not seem willing to do so, he sighed and pulled the young girl into his lap in a brotherly show of affection, "But what? You know you can tell me anything."

"They were teasing me today…" She cast her gaze downward, leaning her head against his chest with a sigh of her own, "I didn't know who the Hyuuga were because I hadn't paid attention in class, and so they teased me…"

"That's most unyouthful of them!" Gai's eyes narrowed in disappoint upon hearing the behavior of the other orphans. Children were meant to play together and get along, as far as he was concerned, "And that was why you ran, little flower?"

Tenten nodded, ashamed of having run away like a coward over something as silly as teasing. She wanted to be brave, and strong, like Gai. And Gai had told her to never give up on such a dream, because he knew of many brave and strong women. In particularly he had mentioned a couple of kunoichi, Anko and Kurenai. That was a big part of the reason the bun haired girl wanted to become a ninja herself.

"What brought up the Hyuuga to begin with?" Gai found himself asking curiously, tilting his head, "Was it part of what you were studying in classes today?"

"No…" The girl on his lap replied hesitantly, but honestly, "We were playing by the Academy, and I got a bit distracted when the students came out. Hyuuga Neji was one of them...he didn't seem to like the man who arrived to walk him home though."

"Ah, I see. The Hyuuga are a complicated clan," Gai offered a small nod, "I believe I know why young Neji would not like his uncle, but it's not really my place to say."

"I got to talk to him," Tenten continued without really meaning to, "After I ran, I somehow ended up at the Hyuuga home, and he came out to talk to me! Oh! Can the Hyuuga see through walls?"

Gai stifled a laugh at the girl's seeming excitement over the fact that she had gotten to speak to the Hyuuga boy shifting so suddenly into perplexed contemplation. Not seeing any need to respond to her comments on speaking with Neji, he focused on her question instead, "In a way, they can. It's a dojutsu they are born with."

The orphan girl canted her head at this new term. Most of what she knew about the technicalities of shinobi arts had come from Gai. Ninja were spoken of only as warriors who fought battles to protect civilians in her official lessons. Still, even when talking about the different types of jutsu, Gai had never mentioned this particular one, "Dojutsu? What's that?"

Grinning at her insatiable curiosity Gai began to explain, "Ah, curiosity is such a wonderfully youthful quality to possess, Tenten! Never lose that! Dojutsu is a jutsu that uses the eyes. Here in Konoha, there are two main families that possess dojutsu. The Uchiha family's sharingan, and the Hyuuga clan's byakugan."

"Bya-ku-gan" Tenten tested the word on her tongue, her face scrunched in concentration, "And byakugan lets them see through walls?"

"No, well, not really," Gai continued to grin at her stream of questions, "It lets them see chakra, even through other objects."

The girl took a moment to digest what she had been told. Byakugan let the Hyuuga see chakra even through other objects. Chakra was the flow of energy that ninja used to fuel their techniques, if she remembered what Gai had told her previously. Neji had said he had seen her from the other side of the wall, so she had chakra. Her eyes grew wide, "Gai-nii-san! Does this mean that they're wrong and I can be a ninja!"

"Well, I believe your youthful spirit and enthusiasm would make you a very skilled kunoichi, you know that," Gai responded, tilting his head, "But how did we get from the byakugan to that?"

Tenten blushed a bit sheepishly as she realized she had jumped to another topic without explaining the thought process that connected it to their previous conversation, "Neji-kun said he could 'see' me, even though he was on the other side of the wall when he did. That must mean I have chakra, right?"

The green clad man was torn between grinning and smiling apologetically, so he tried for a combination of the two, which came across as a bit strange and honestly a bit creepy, "'Neji-kun,' hmm? It seems you made a friend today! But unfortunately, I may have mislead you with my previous explanation of chakra, young flower. Chakra is something that flows through us all, shinobi harness and focus their chakra, that's the difference. I still say you would make a good kunoichi, though."

"I see…" Satisfied, if a little disappointed, with his response to her question, Tenten let out a sigh before filing the information away and focusing on the first part of what he had said, "And Neji-kun and I aren't exactly _friends_...in fact, I'm pretty sure I annoy him...and he's annoying too."

Gai raised a brow at the young girl's comments about the Hyuuga boy. He knew Tenten was outgoing, but he didn't think she was annoying in any aspect! Of course, he also didn't realize that certain people seemed to find his own personality irksome. From what he knew about Hyuuga Neji through the academy's main teacher, Umino Iruka, the boy was a genius, but cold and slow to trust. Iruka had mentioned in passing to the jounin who were being looked at as possible sensei in the future, which apparently included Gai, that working with Neji would probably be difficult since the prodigy didn't give his trust or friendship easily. It saddened him to think of someone so young having their youthful spirit broken!

"What makes you think you annoyed him, Tenten?" Gai asked, suddenly curious as to whether Neji was genuinely unreachable or just the sort to put people at a distance.

"Well, he called me stupid because I didn't know about the byakugan, then called me nobody and nothing when he was asked who he was talking to! On top of that he tried to walk away with saying goodbye properly. Annnnd….I might have made him angry when I accidentally hit him in the head with a rock." Tenten finished her response in a rushed mumble.

Gai's youthful smile slowly curved into a frown as the girl listed the insults against her, only to suddenly morph into an expression of surprise and (hidden) amusement at her mumbled ending, which he had managed to catch despite her best efforts, "You hit him in the head with a rock? Accidentally?"

"Yes…" Tenten murmured a sheepish reply, unsure of whether Gai was displaying good/proud surprise, or bad/disappointed surprise, "But I really wasn't trying to! I honestly thought I would miss! I mean, yeah I aimed for him, but it's not like I'm trained to hit a target or anything, and he's going to the Academy, and I really thought he'd dodge!"

"You hit Hyuuga Neji, the prodigy of his family, in the head?" Gai couldn't help quirking a small smile at the concept as the orphan once more nodded. Most Hyuuga children started learning to use their byakugan before they even entered the academy. If Neji was as bright as everyone said, then he should have an excellent grasp on the dojutsu by now. His small smile grew slightly as an idea occurred to him, "Well, it isn't good to throw rocks at people, Tenten. If you are feeling frustrated enough to want to hit someone, it's best to take that frustration out on a inanimate target, or a willing and youthful sparring partner!"

"Okay…" Even though she was only a child, Tenten was shrewd enough to know when Gai was up to something. This was more than just friendly advice. She knew she shouldn't have thrown the rock at Neji, she could have seriously hurt him after all. But the talk of targets and sparring partners sounded more like advice suitable for an academy student than a civilian.

"If you are still feeling frustrated tomorrow, I have the day off and am more than willing to help, my youthful flower!" Gai beamed at her, trying to look innocent, which only made Tenten more suspicious.

"Gai-nii-san? What are you talking about?" Her brow lifted and she wondered what on earth he could be getting at. It wasn't that she suspected him of anything more than brotherly concern and wanting to genuinely help her, but she knew he could get a bit extreme with his personal training routine, and the mention of sparring had her wondering if he was going to ask her to attempt such a routine herself...at a much lesser pace hopefully.

Once more Gai leaned in to murmur in the girl's ear, not wanting anyone to overhear, "What I mean is...being a shinobi myself, I know where the best training grounds are located. We're not supposed to let civilians handle things like shuriken and kunai, but I think you could do it. And if not, we can always find a decent supply of rocks, hmm?"

The bun haired girl's eyes widened as it dawned on her what he was suggestion, an eager grin spreading over her features. Civilian's weren't supposed to be allowed to use a shinobi's personal weapons, though they could buy their own with enough money. And being a young child, it was especially true that Tenten shouldn't be allowed to handle such weaponry at all, as much as she'd always wanted to. Most civilians, especially the children, were also unaware of the locations of the places where the shinobi tended to train, supposedly to protect everyone. But the man who acted as her older brother was now offering to violate these rules and give her some secret training! Finally, she would know the cool metal of a kunai in her grasp!

With an uncharacteristically girly squeal, the brunette threw her arms around the jounin's neck, "Arigatou! Domo arigatou, Gai-nii-san!"

After returning the embrace a moment, Gai gently pried the youthful girl off of himself. If he was going to make this work, then he had a stop to make before he called it a night. Settling Tenten on the couch as he stood and turned to face her, the jounin smiled warmly, "You're very welcome, little flower! I need to leave now, but I will return tomorrow morning at nine. If I'm late then I'll do fifty laps around the village on my hands!"

The bun haired girl laughed softly, despite knowing that he was entirely serious about his self imposed consequences if he broke a promise. It was a silly habit of his, but it always helped to remind her that keeping one's word was important, "I'll see you then, Gai-nii-san!"

Giving her brother figure a final hug she stood and bounded up the stairs to where her room was. It wasn't hers alone, of course. In an orphanage, it was customary to have at least one roommate. But even at the risk of disturbing said roommate, Tenten couldn't bring herself to calm down. The other girl just gave a soft groan as the door swung open then slammed, announcing the bun haired girl's arrival, then rolled over, hoping that if she ignored the overly enthusiastic wannabe-shinobi she would be allowed to sleep.

After watching Tenten race up the stairs Gai turned to leave with a chuckle, murmuring about her youthful exuberance as he exited the orphanage and quickly made his way towards the Hokage tower.


End file.
